


Resolve

by Oshusta



Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Uprising
Genre: Apologies, Blaming, Canon Continuation, Dyson is a dick, F/M, Father-Son Relationship, Guilt, Mentions of other characters - Freeform, Reflection, Regret, Resolved Argument, Sleep Deprivation, Soft! Beck, Soft! Tron, Tron Cares, Tron is healed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-23
Updated: 2019-10-23
Packaged: 2020-12-29 00:17:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,507
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21145619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Oshusta/pseuds/Oshusta
Summary: The thing was, if Paige hadn’t shoved his light-cycle when they’d reached the fork in the road, if she’d let Beck lead her to the Outlands, away from Argon and the mess that Pavel had created, to some peace and quiet where he could appeal to her…he would’ve told her he was the Renegade.





	Resolve

**Author's Note:**

> I’m supposed to be studying for exams, but I’m in a Tron fix, and I always wondered what would’ve happened if Paige had listened to Beck and gone to the outlines with him in the episode of Rendezvous in Tron: Uprising. So now Becky boy is thinking back on it too! Poor Becky boy. He can’t catch a break. 
> 
> Also this is severely unbetaed. I’ve barely glimpsed through this either. Be warned.

The thing was, if Paige hadn’t shoved his light-cycle when they’d reached the fork in the road, if she’d let Beck lead her to the Outlands, away from Argon and the mess that Pavel had created, to some peace and quiet where he could appeal to her…he would’ve told her he was the Renegade.

Thinking back on it now, Beck realised it wouldn’t have been the greatest choice. Not with the way she reacted to him asking her to defect from under Clu’s command whilst he was the Renegade…

But Beck couldn’t help but wonder if revealing his identity to her whilst he was Beck, in more calmer situations (them being in the Outlands free from any enemy pursuit) would’ve helped her realise she was fighting for the wrong Admin. He’d rushed his proposal because she was seconds away from being recaptured which had put her on the wrong foot. She also hated the Renegade. Her bias threw the situation. Beck should’ve realised he had no chance.

Maybe if he could’ve taken her someplace else…

But that would’ve only worsened her opinion of him. Taking her against her will? Forcing his own beliefs on her? He would be as bad as Tesler. Worse. He’d be as bad as _Clu_. He knew now they’d repurposed her, from what she told him. Whatever they’d done had pushed her away from her designated directive. She had been a _medic_, not a soldier. She was doing the opposite of what she had been coded for!

Beck couldn’t help loathing Clu for it, even though it had ended up saving Tron from his fast approaching fate.

It was hardly fair that someone he felt so close to and understood so well as Beck, also hated him. Sure, she didn’t realise it was Beck under the mask, but that was because she didn’t understand his ideals as the Renegade as well as she did when he was Beck.

He knew if he revealed himself now, he would receive no sympathy or mercy from her. She simply hated the Renegade, and Tron, too much.

Beck refocused on his sensory outputs, rather than his inputs, his visionary sensors taking in the sight of Argon from the Shire.

All the surviving mechanics from Abel’s garage were taking refuge in the Shire, so Beck had kept Tron’s shiny white disc screwed on and ported, the helmet hiding his identity…and his emotions.

Tron (remaining anonymous with his own helmet up) had situated the mechanics on the lower level, ordering them into sleep mode for the off-cycle. They were eager to fight, to resist Clu’s oncoming army, but it wouldn’t happen over one off-cycle, even if their forces had grown surmountable in that amount of time.

He came up behind Beck now, his reflection in the mirror growing larger.

Their roles had been reversed in this instance – now it was Tron that approached as Beck stared out of the city, rather than the opposite.

Beck could more understand now why his mentor had done it. It felt like he had the weight of the Grid on his shoulders, and looking out over the city was the only thing the slowed his processers down enough to be…breathable. He’d overheat soon enough.

“Beck,” Tron said, his helmet derezzing into his armour.

Beck lifted his head ever so slightly in acknowledgment, not bothering to do the same with his own helmet. “Is everyone settling in?”

“Well enough,” Tron answered, not sounding too concerned. He stayed a little distance behind Beck, as if wary of him. Huh. Who would’ve thought.

Beck shut his eyes, clenching a fist out of Tron’s sight.

How could the Resistance have come to this? Beck thought it would’ve been slower going, with less chance of derezzed programs and more chance of destruction of Clu’s forces.

He hadn’t imagined how quickly the tide would turn and how quickly code would get to be destroyed. Too many friends had derezzed for the short amount of time that had passed.

Now Abel was gone, his garage was destroyed and all the mechanics were his and Tron’s responsibility. And as much as they needed recruits for the Resistance, right now they were nothing more than burden on their shoulders – programmes they had to be accountable for and protect. They couldn’t contribute well-enough to their cause, not untrained as they were. They would be a liability to them.

They would hold him and Tron back. Beck hated thinking it, but it was true. It was a bitter realisation, that alongside his knowledge that Paige would never be on his side, that she would fight for Clu to her bitter end.

Tron’s hand came to rest on Beck’s shoulder. He hadn’t even realised the old program had stepped closer. He was as silent as the Grid herself, his processers not making any noise.

Beck didn’t know how he was staying so collected. He supposed he had been through a lot already. For him, these were better circumstances…probably.

“You ok?” he asked Beck, his voice pitched low. Beck didn’t even know that Tron could pitch his auditory output lower than [loud speaking].

“Fine,” Beck answered, tone clipped. He wasn’t angry with Tron himself…but he was angry. It was hard to hide it.

In the reflection of the glass, Beck saw Tron’s face harden. “Derezz your helmet.”

So. He was back to his old demanding self. He’d been in a good mood before, having just been healed. Well, as good a mood as he could be in with having to fight his way out of Occupation captivity and surviving the Recogniser crash.

Beck sighed and did as he was told, the voxels shrinking from his face to reveal his worn and tried eyes. He hadn’t been in sleep-mode for a while, and his energy was running low.

He felt Tron’s critical eyes assessing his reflection and hung his head in shame. It was easy to feel his anger, and feel it was justified without having to look his imposing mentor in the eye.

Tron wasn’t having any of it, using the hand on resting on Beck’s shoulder to turn him around.

Beck met his eyes tiredly before he glanced away again, his frame slumping. 

“You need to rest,” Tron observed. He could hear the frown in his voice.

“Too much too process,” Beck said.

Tron pushed at his shoulder, forcing Beck to meet his gaze. “I will force you into shut-down,” Tron said. It would be a threat from anyone else, but this was one of his acts of kindness. “We need you at your best.”

“Gee, thanks,” Beck snapped. “That would really relax my off-cycle.”

Tron’s frown deepened further, if possible. “Better than staring out at the city and wallowing.”

“What, like you usually do?” Beck retorted, narrowing his eyes up at his mentor.

Tron shoved at his shoulder before withdrawing his hand, his frame straightening.

“What, no rebuke?” Beck goaded, letting the bitterness he felt circling his core meld into his tone.

“You’re blaming me again,” Tron said, his voice sounding merely observational rather than accusatory. “But I’m not guilty.”

Beck rolled his eyes and looked away. “_This_time.”

“Beck,” Tron admonished, his voice rising in pitch. “I don’t know what’s going through your processers, but this isn’t what we need right now.”

Beck snorted. “That’s more in character.”

“Snap out of it!” Tron snapped, snatching Beck’s wrist into his iron grip and clenching down hard. “Tell me what’s got your code jumbled.”

Beck glared at his mentor in defiance. He didn’t have to tell Tron anything.

“Tell me, Beck,” Tron ground out, his voice lowering into a growl.

“Fine!” Beck snapped. “Your healed, and that’s great, but what are we going to do now? We have all these untrained mechanics hiding out in our base as our only form of support. Now that Clu’s here we have an even bigger target painted on our back. _And_more to lose.”

“Young program, old worries.” Tron scoffed, releasing Beck’s hand and all but throwing it back to his side.

“Excuse me?”

Tron stepped forward so he was standing beside Beck and looking out the window, taking on the pose he normally did when Beck came up to find him. He could see more easily from this angle that his expression wasn’t as calm and collected as he thought as his mentor gazed out at Argon.

Beck turned back around to face the city he was coded in, raised in, had lived in for the last cycles, where he’d fought and lost friends. Then he looked back to his mentor’s face.

The old program’s eyes had grown distant, like it often did, and suddenly all Beck was feeling was concern.

Tron’s external wounds had been healed…but the memories would never be forgotten.

His mentor turned and met his eyes. “Now you are beginning to understand why I’m so tough on you.”

Beck’s face twisted in confusion. “How…exactly?”

Tron’s lips held the ghost of a smile. “How you feel about those mechanics…that’s how I feel every time you leave for a mission. And don’t forget all those self-proclaimed tasks you’ve undergone without my permission.”

Beck ducked his head in shame. “You know about those, huh?”

“It’s hard to miss things, with you,” Tron told him, elbowing his side lightly. He was teasing him. His mentor was actually teasing him. “You are soft-cored, Beck. You care too much. It gets you hurt. So, I have to keep an eye on you.”

“I…” Beck swallowed. He couldn’t help feeling a little hurt at Tron’s words, despite the truth in them. But he also knew that Tron was just showing really how much he cared for Beck. “Thanks?”

The smile grew slightly stronger before fading again.

Beck lifted his hand to scratch the back of his head. “So, you know then…about my trying to recruit Paige?”

“Is that what this is about?” Tron cast him another critical sideward glance. “You _told_me about that.”

Beck’s core lurched and he shook his head. “No- I mean…when I got her out of the arena.”

Tron raised an eyebrow. “You weren’t being subtle. I could see your light-jet from here.”

Beck tried ignoring that he apparently wasn’t as incognito as he thought. Hopefully nobody was as perceptive as Tron, and figured out he had feelings for Paige as the Renegade, otherwise it’d be easy for them to put two and two together and discover his identity.

“What did I do wrong, Tron?” Beck asked, desperate for answers. “She’s a good program! If we had her on our side-“

“Can she really make that big of a difference?” Tron asked, incredulous. “Or do you just want someone to know what you’re going through?”

Beck couldn’t answer that.

Tron sighed and ran a tired hand over his face. “Beck, that kind of directive is what will cost us the Resistance. You can’t afford to let your emotions compromise you like this.”

“I’m not!” Beck protested, sounding petulant to his own ears. “By my side, she can help us! She-“

“By _your_side now?” Tron asked, shooting him a disgruntled look.

“Tron, just _let_me-“

“_Beck_.” Tron was done humouring him, apparently. His face had become stern. “We talked about this before, and I didn’t want to push you, but you’re not leaving me much choice.”

Beck looked away sullenly, letting his head drop. His mentor really didn’t like doing things any way but his own, did he? As soon as he thought it, Beck knew it was unfair. Tron was right about a lot of things. Beck just couldn’t accept it this time ‘round.

“You’ve tried appealing to her before. More than once,” Tron added, pointedly, “At this point if she is to change sides she has to do it on her own. The only thing _you_can do is what you have been doing.”

His mentor was definitely right about this. Bits.

Beck cast Tron a hesitant look, wondering if he was angry.

The old program looked right back at him, but this time his face was softened with sympathy.

“I had to go through something similar,” Tron admitted after a moment, the soft look falling away to be replaced by something more sorrowful.

“You did?” Beck asked, incredulous.

Tron nodded. “Yori. She was my partner program. She couldn’t fight like I do, though.”

Partner program? Tron had a _partner_program? How did even need a partner program? But then Beck remembered Tron had come from the old system, implemented into the Grid by Flynn.

“Did she…help you defeat the MCP?” Beck cautioned to ask, looking closely at his mentor’s face.

“Sure did,” Tron said, shocking Beck with another smile. “She was nothing but trouble. Kind of like you, actually.”

Beck felt his core lift at Tron comparing to his very own partner program, someone he obviously cared deeply for.

“So…what happened?” Beck asked, dreading the answer. If it was anything like his scenario then it wasn’t a happy ending.

“After the attack on the ISO’s I tried warning her away. She wouldn’t listen to me. I gave up, and then she made the choice herself, knowing…” Tron shook his head, derailing his directive of speech. “I don’t know where she went. I was just glad she’d gotten away from Dyson.”

“Would he…would he have hurt her?” Beck wondered aloud.

Tron let out a bitter laugh. “He would’ve torn her to voxels in front of me.”

Beck regretted asking. Dyson was an understated sore point for the old program, who’d driven him to a vicious, undirected edge that nobody should ever know Tron had.

“Do you know where she is?”

Tron’s eyes grew distant again. “She’s out there, somewhere. She couldn’t have…” he swallowed. “She wouldn’t have derezzed quietly.”

Beck’s face softened as he gazed up at his mentor. Tron must’ve thought about Yori a lot. It made a lot of sense. He’d lost so much already…

Beck raised a hand to rest comfortingly on his mentor’s shoulders, mirroring the way Tron had done so for him. He transmitted _comfort_through their contact point, and Tron cast him what could only be described a grateful look.

“I’m sorry,” Beck murmured.

“No, I’m sorry, Beck.” Tron sighed. “I know it’s hard on you. You have a lot to lose. Paige being under Clu’s command…I know that’s not easy.”

“No,” Beck agreed, “But you were right. I have other concerns. And Paige can handle herself.”

Tron looked back at him with a vaguely disbelieving expression.

He must’ve thought Beck was going to fight him more on the matter. But they’d already had enough fighting for millions of runtimes. He needed a break. They both did.

Tron was thinking the same thing, because he turned away from the window and said, “Let’s get some rest.”

“Yes, sir,” Beck responded, following his mentor. “Hey- you won’t have to go into the Chamber!”

“User’s help me, this will be strange,” Tron muttered, making Beck laugh.


End file.
